


a colorful closure

by DidiNyx



Series: Blitzstone Galore, because it heals the soul [5]
Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bromance, Dysfunctional Family, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, The feels, a few platonic relationships, and when you spend eternity trying to proofread everything, friendship/family, i know just pls forgive me, i mean it's not that bad but still, im sure i left one or two mistakes, no for real the summary is sweet but the actual fic has tons of angst ok warning you now, when you are actually proud of a work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-01-30 02:31:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12644325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DidiNyx/pseuds/DidiNyx
Summary: Othala means family, Magnus signed, putting the bud of a white tulip he had then produced from his pocket in Hearth's hair. I meant what I said about you being my brother.Hearth smiled and turned around when he felt someone tapping his shoulder, revealing his best friend Blitz.You're my family too, Blitz signed. He handed Hearth a red rose.Hearth rolled his eyes fondly. Dorks.Aka what happens when you are so obsessed with a series and think too much about possible cinematic parallels/symbolism after reading the most perfect third book in a trilogy.





	a colorful closure

**Author's Note:**

> warning: i may have pulled a little bit of a chliche lol

There wasn't really a night sky in Alfheim, just sunlight all the time - Even at night, when the sun simply glowed a burning, almost violent red against the dark sky there was no sense of the silver, mysterious night. Stars were not common but there were always rumors of such anomalies, and one can only think those who are only lucky and fortunate could ever witness a rare and magnificent beauty. 

And surely no child, no simple elf of any kind, would be expected to witness this uncommon sight? Surely in Alfheim, a world in which material wealth is highly adored, very few would even consider these moments of rarity?

Yes, perhaps - But simply put, there was nothing _simplistic_ about the young Hearthstone. A dreamer was he, and how could one blame him? After years of unjust treatment and learning to grow up too soon, dreaming and daring of the odd, strange, and overall contrary came quite naturally.

Odd, strange, and overall contrary was he.

Or so he was told.

And so he'd run off very frequently from home - not too far, for that was forbidden, and the woods that occupied his parents' rich home was scary... not to mention a large, silver gate blocked exiting completely. (Young Hearthstone wasn't strong enough to climb over.) But he at least wanted somewhere safe and peaceful where he could collect his thoughts or just relax without the reminder of his burdens.

Even with these short acts of rebellon, it was not meant to be. Someone was bound to find him, whether it was his parents, Inge, or - more likely - his younger brother, Andiron. But still, moments like these, where he could witness what assosciated with _magic_.... it was like a moment of respectable, hopeful silence in his already noiseless world.

The window down the corridor was gently pushed open by this colorless child, who peered up at the black sky, nothing but the blood-red sun to illuminate what would otherwise be a sunny and airy landscape. The darkness still scared him, which was silly to consider, because he'd seen the sky like this before. The child almost didn't even consider it wasn't even the _darkness_ that scared him - it was the light of the disoriented sun, peeking out the clouds without mercy. 

He was lucky this time. It was too late for anyone to be up and to potentially yell at him and shove him back to bed. Tonight specifically, he knew, a shooting star would miraculously appear.

And there it was! A shooting star...not exactly silver and bright, mind you, but still a magnificent, queer anomalie that decided to make itself known. Inside, Hearth's usual controlled, emotionless persona sank and rising came childlike excitement and joy - one in which he experienced less than he should.

Gentle footsteps made their way closer to the scene, though Hearth could not hear this; He did, however, feel the vibrations and turned around without hesitation, knowing exactly who had decided to show up.

Another boy had appeared, with the same features as Hearth's, just different in color - Glowing skin, golden hair, cheerful green eyes. He had a small, scrawny frame and was roughly as tall as Hearth.

Hearth's eyes lit up and he smiled at his brother, Andiron, who smiled back and signed  _Follow me!_ in fluent ASL. Hearth followed excitedly yet cautiously, following Andiron with light footsteps to a room at the end of the hall - Andiron's room. (Really, the two shared the room constantly even though Mr. and Mrs. Alderman insisted upon Hearth having a completely different room, all the way near the back of the house with not as nearly as much decoration as Andiron's.)

The two brothers entered, holding hands, into the cheerful room with pictures and books scattered about. The only light that entered was the glowing red of the sun, along with the little lamp beside Andiron's bed. 

Andiron gestured for Hearth to sit on the bed with him and smiled sheepishly. He signed _Hold on_ and grabbed something behind him. _Close your eyes_ , he said, his own gleaming with excitement.

Curious, Hearth oblidged and closed his silver eyes. 

Once Andiron tapped Hearth's shoulder, the boy opened his eyes once more to see his brother holding a flower crown made up of a variety of different flowers, from daisies to violets to tulips.  _I picked these for you,_ Andiron said, putting the flower crown on top Hearth's head.

Hearth was astonished, eyes wide in shock. _For me!?_ he signed, and Andiron giggled.

 _Of course. I thought you needed a splash of color._ And so he giggled once more, and Hearth regretfully reminded himself how badly he'd do anything to hear it. He was, however, snapped out of these thoughts when little Andiron gently caressed his cheek, as if he was the most precious, perfect thing he'd ever saw in his short little years of living.

Hearth teared up, hugging his brother tightly in response.

"I love you," Andiron said outloud, then signing it after the embrace.

_I love you too._

Their forheads touched, and it was like the greatest bliss they've ever known.

* * *

The day of the funeral was bleak, damp, and cold.

The wind blew ruthlessly, causing young Hearth to shiver despite the thick, black clothing he was forced to wear. The funeral itself was actually rather small - he'd seen his parents' parties much more packed with people, much more decorated, and actually _inside_. Whereas now, everyone simply stood in front of the small, sad grave, not daring to move. A eulogy was spoken, and more people - including Greta Alderman herself - decided to share a few words, but nothing else. Tears were shed, but no other words as far as Hearth could pay attention to were uttered.

Everyone, it seemed, were too shocked to say much of anything. The only other thing they allowed themselves to do was give Hearth suspicious, cruel looks. It's like the whole funeral was really just a punishment for Hearth, his parents forcing him to come. _This is what you did_ , their cold, emotionless eyes seem to say. _And you desrve to see every little moment of our sorrow._

He was, after all, responsible for Andiron's death.

He couldn't hear the beast approaching...he couldn't hear Andiron's screams...

Guilt and sorrow flooded the poor child's heart, and tears streamed down his pale face. Soon, elves were making their way to the silver gate, returning to their own homes. Mr. Alderman gestured for Mrs. Alderman to leave too, and they did, not even bothering to take Hearth with them, leaving the child in the bitter cold, perhaps to freeze. He remembered his mother - usually being the one to ignore him - giving him one look of loathing, then simply returned to wiping her wet eyes delicately with a silk cloth.

No one offered Hearth anything.

And that was okay, he thought. He didn't want to leave. He felt the responsibility to stay, to grieve, to try to pray Andiron knew he was eternally sorry. He closed the black umbrella mother had given to him, then sat down on his knees in front of Andiron's grave.

The child had only been _seven_ when he died.

It wasn't fair.

With shaking, icy cold hands, Hearth took out the flower crown Andiron had given him. He gently sat it on top the stone grave, tracing his brother's name with his fingers over and over again, perhaps so that he could never forget. 

Not like he really could, though.

Hearth felt his walls fall all of a sudden and allowed himself to sob, sob so much his insides started to hurt and he was choking for air. For someone who couldn't make too many sounds, you could _hear_ his heart break.

Soon there was nothing else to cry, and so he slowly got up and walked shamefully back inside his home.

 

 Once back home, Hearth didn't bother staying around his parents, already suspecting what terrible things they wanted to tell and/or do to him. He quickly entered his room, shutting the door and collapsing onto bed, too drained of any emotion to even cry or perhaps punch a few pillows. All he wanted to do was sleep.

And he did, until Inge entered. He felt the vibrations of her feet entering, and slowly turned to her.

She looked sad herself, tears in her eyes. Hearth half-expected her to yell at him, too.

But she didn't. With careful hands, she signed _Hearthstone, I'm so sorry..._

There was more she wanted to say - he could tell - but words failed her. Hearth nodded, then laid back in bed. Inge frowned, but sensed she couldn't do much to help him.

She tapped his shoulder, and reluctantly, he turned to face her.  _I'll be back to give you lunch. I promise I will not be mad._

And then she left.

The last thing Hearth wanted was to harm someone else, but he didn't dwell too much on Inge's words. He was too much in pain to care about his well-being anyways, so what was the point of lunch? Now he wouldn't even get half of the amount of food as much as he usually did - Which, granted, wasn't much.

Miserable, Hearth closed his eyes and pictured the burning sun to distract himself. Soon that image morphed back into Andiron's grave, and Hearth decided thinking was too much for him to handle.

He was to sleep for the whole night before confronting his parents, before he figured out his punishment. Though the clothing expectations didn't change, he thought it was only appropriate to remain in black clothes. He was grieving, after all. He was responsible.

* * *

Roughly a decade later, teen Hearth would have no blood-red sun to gaze at.

Which was fine, he didn't care for it anyways.

Now, outside, there was darkness, unless you count all the streetlights. He was no longer in Alfheim.

While Hearth sat in a comfortable chair peacefully reading a book he had found, familiar footsteps made their way over, resulting in Hearth glancing up curiously at the dwarf in front of him.

 _Hi!_ Blitzen signed. _I'm back._

 _Why are you smiling like that?_ Hearth asked.

Blitzen blushed. _Because I have a surprise for you._

That startled Hearth. Not like he _deserved_ any surprise, right? Besides, Blitz had been way too kind to him ever since they've met, and all the attention wasn't something he was used to. He was so, so _very much_ afraid of getting too close to somebody just to see them leave, and he was tired of it happening. 

_Do you trust me?_

The question had caught Hearth off guard, and he realized, even after years of emotional distress in the past, he actually did.

_Yes._

Blitz smiled. _Close your eyes._

After giving the dwarf one more curious look, he hesitantly closed his silver eyes and felt Blitz move closer, wrapping something soft around his neck. Blitz tapped his shoulder, signaling Hearth to open his eyes.

Hearth found a simple candy-cane striped silk scarf lovely tied around his neck. Astonished, he stroked it gently before meeting Blitz's kind, warm brown eyes.

_I thought you needed a splash of color. Do you like it? I made it just for you. I know it's not the best, but--_

He was interrupted by Hearth hugging him tightly, tears streaming down his face.

That simple act of silence said more than words.

* * *

 Hearthstone stared at the night sky above him, remembering all the memories he had felt when pressing the othala rune to his forehead. During that time, he and his friends were trying to take down the very monstrou **s** dragon that had been his father. (One hell of a situation, really.)

He remembered Andiron more than ever now - Especially when his own magic allowed Andiron's soul to come, once again, in the waking life, having the opportunity to spill his secret:  _When I whispered into that well, I made a wish. I wanted to be as kind and good as you, brother. You are perfect._

Perfect.

_Perfect._

Finally that word wasn't in vain.

In the corner of his eye, Hearth saw Magnus approach the roof deck.

"Hey," he said.

 _Hey_ , Hearth signed back, a smile tugging at his lips.

Magnus thought for a moment. _Remember when you, Blitz and I were homeless?_

Hearth snorted. _How could I forget?_

Magnus rolled his eyes. _I wasn't finished._ He paused. _And we'd use to go on random rooftops, looking at the stars?_

Hearth nodded. He treasured their early friendship very much. _We would share a lot of  our experiences, when we were all alone._

 _Exactly._ They made eye contact. _You're not alone now, though_ , Magnus signed.

_Of course not._

_Othala means family_ , Magnus signed, putting the bud of a white tulip he had then produced from his pocket in Hearth's hair. _I meant what I said about you being my brother._

Hearth smiled and turned around when he felt someone tapping his shoulder, revealing his best friend Blitz.

 _You're my family too_ , Blitz signed. He handed Hearth a red rose.

Hearth rolled his eyes fondly. _Dorks._

"What? It matches the floral scarf I made you last week!" Blitz exclaimed, pouting.

 _Yes, and I thank you for it very much._ He gladly took the rose and held Blitz's hand.

Magnus looked at the sky. "What do you guys wish for now?"

Blitz considered this. "As long as we're all alive in the next few months, I'd say our dreams are coming true."

"I agree."

 _Yep_ , Hearth signed.

The three of them looked up, content with the silence. Soon, a shooting star conveniently passed, but by then Hearth was the only one awake to experience it out of the three of them.

 _Family,_ he signed happily.  _Finally._

He glanced at his sleeping friends, both of their heads leaning on his shoulder. 

And he smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> I just... have lots of feels...
> 
> jkfdbfulsdhbfsodlfgfgsdjhtrgsjhdbsak
> 
> tumblr if you want to come scream with me: queennyxie.tumblr.com (it's chaos)
> 
> **lol "best friend" in this context obvi means lover/husband**  
> **also idc if alfheim isn't completely accurate shhhh just roll with it let me have fun**


End file.
